A Tale of Sheldon & Penny: Part 6: Forever
by Shipper1990
Summary: Sheldon & Penny continue to build a life together.
1. Five Months Later

Okay, here we go again. Please make sure you have read the ending of part 5.

As always, let me know if you find any mistakes.

We're making a larger time jump here, the time in between will be adressed in later chapters as well as in Additional Scenes.

Part 6 will include the return of several side-characters and it will also feature a Shenny wedding as I already teased at the end of part 1 (and therefore TBBT's biggest mystery will be revealed, Penny's last name). And that's actually right where we start.

* * *

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

_It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining bright, the sand was white and the water perfectly blue. Penny's dress was a dream in white and Sheldon's suit wasn't bad either. All of their friends and family members were there, but most importantly they were there. They could have been all by themselves in a sewer, it wouldn't have changed a thing. They only had eyes for each other anyway._

_"Do you, Sheldon Lee Cooper, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to have and to hold, to love and to honor, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer and poorer, keeping yourself solely unto her for as long as you both shall live?"_

_"I do."_

_"And do you, Penelope Lara Jones, take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, to have and to hold, to love and to honor, in sickness and in health, in good times and woe, for richer and poorer, keeping yourself solely unto him for as long as you both shall live?"_

_"I do."_

_"By the authority vested in me by the state of California, I hereby pronounce you husband and wife. You may now kiss the bride."_

_Sheldon cupped Penny's face and kissed her passionately. "I love you, Penny. Forever."_

_"Forever.", the bride echoed._

_Suddenly the wedding guests scattered under loud shouting. The newlyweds turned around to see what caused the turmoil. A black car rapidly approached them, crushing chairs and decorations along the way._

_Penny was the first to react. "Sheldon, watch out!", she yelled and pushed him out of the car's path. Only split seconds later she was hit._

"Penny!", Sheldon shouted and jumped up in the hospital bed.

"Sheldon! You're awake!"

"Penny. Penny, I ..."

"Psst. You need to calm down, sweetie. Everything is alright." Penny kissed his hand she had been holding for hours. "You're going to be alright."

"Penny, I love ..."

Penny stuck her head out of the door. "I need a doctor in here and fast!"

Alarmed by Penny's yelling a doctor and two nurses entered the room only seconds later. "What is going on?", the doctor asked.

"He's awake.", Penny informed him.

"Mister Cooper? Can you hear me?"

"It's Doctor Cooper.", Sheldon answered weakly.

"That's incredible. His vital signs are excellent. Five month no change whatsoever and now ... – incredible."

"Is he going to be alright?"

"We will have to monitor him for a couple of days, but it looks really good. It's almost a miracle."

"Thank you, Doctor Parker. Did you hear that, Sheldon? You're going to be fine."

"I don't feel so good.", Sheldon whispered, his eyes closed.

Penny panicked. "Doctor, what's happening?"

"Don't worry, he's just still very weak."

"But he's not going back to coma, is he?"

"No, that's very unlikely. It will take some more test, but his brain doesn't seem to have taken any permanent damage. The original injuries have healed too, so I see nothing that would stand in his way to fully recover."

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

"Penny?"

"Yes, sweetie, I'm here."

"What happened?"

"You don't remember? You got hit by a car, in Paris. Sheldon, you were in a coma for the last five months."

"Five months?", Sheldon asked in disbelief.

"I'm afraid so."

"Are you okay?"

"Yes, sweetie, I'm fine."

"Penny, I love you."

"I love you too, Sheldon."

* * *

I admit, not my best idea and kind of mean. But don't worry, we'll get there for real.

Please don't call me out on the medical stuff in this and future chapters. I have no clue and I don't care.


	2. Going Home

Saturday, April 10, 2010

"Sheldon, don't be stubborn."

"I don't need a wheelchair."

"The hospital didn't give it to you for nothing."

"I can walk on my own. See?" Sheldon handed Penny his crutches and walked a few steps.

"That's great, sweetie. And now get in the wheelchair."

"Penny, I ..."

"Do it for me, Sheldon. I'm responsible for you. I couldn't live with myself if I would let anything happen to you.", Penny argued. "Again.", she added quietly.

"Okay, for you.", Sheldon replied and sat down.

"Thank you, sweetie." Penny leaned down and kissed him on the cheek. "The hospital parking lot was all full, so I parked around the corner. Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, you're mom called, she caught an earlier flight and will be landing here in an hour."

"Great."

"That didn't sound too enthusiastic.", Penny stated as she pushed Sheldon and the wheelchair into the empty elevator. "Are you not happy to see her?"

"I was just hoping I could have some alone time with my girlfriend. And after all it was you who stayed at my side all the time, not her."

"You can't blame her for that, Sheldon. It was a very difficult situation for her. For both of us. I just wanted to be as close to you as possible, your mom had to deal with it differently. To be honest, I don't think she would have survived it if she hadn't gone home. She was torturing herself here."

"Still, I ... – how did you get the hospital to allow you to stay anyway?"

"It was quite the struggle in the first few weeks, especially since we're not ... related to each other. So I always had to go over your mom. But at some point I think they just got annoyed by me and decided to bend the rules a little. Of course I had to pay for the extra bed and the food, I'm afraid there's quite the bill coming our way."

"I'm glad you stayed persistent."

"So am I, sweetie." They left the hospital and made their way to Penny's car. "Oh, another thing I totally forgot to tell you. Two weeks after you got transferred here my car broke down and the mechanic said there's not much he could do, so I bought a new one, I hope that's okay."

"Why wouldn't it be?"

"Well, it's your money after all."

"Penny, I have told you repeatedly ..."

"I know, I know, it's our money. It's just ... – well, normally I would have asked you first before spending such an amount."

"And I appreciate that. But I guess that wasn't an option this time."

"I'm really glad you're so cool about it. The coma, I mean."

"I'm still trying to really grasp it. Five months, I can't even image what I must have missed."

"Yeah. I didn't catch much of the outside world myself either."

"I'm sorry."

"What are you sorry for?"

"I never wanted to put you through something like this."

"Don't be silly, it wasn't your fault. Okay, we're here. It's a hybrid by the way."

"Nice color.", Sheldon commented.

"It's called blue."

"I was in a coma, Penny. I didn't have a stroke.", Sheldon replied and got out of the wheelchair.

"Let me help you.", Penny said

"Penny, I really think I can get in a car by myself."

"Just be careful, okay? Doctor Parker said you lost a lot of muscle after lying down for five months."

"I never had much muscles anyway.", Sheldon joked and tried to open the car door. "Penny, it's locked."

"Oh, sorry." Penny fumbled out the key and pressed the button on it. "Remote key."

"Convenient."

Penny folded the wheelchair and put it in the trunk. "Ready to go?", she asked after getting in the car as well.

Sheldon nodded. "Yes. Can't wait to get home, I hate hospitals."

"Yeah, I share that sentiment.", Penny replied and started the engine. "Listen, it's super quiet."

"And environmental-friendly."

"Well, that actually depends on ..."

Penny laughed out loud. "Oh sweetie, I can't tell you how much I missed you."

30 minutes later

Penny parked her new car in front of 2311 Los Robles Avenue, took the wheelchair from the trunk and helped Sheldon getting out of the car and into the wheelchair.

"How is this going to work with the stairs?", Sheldon asked.

"Why would we take the stairs, there's an elevator."

"Maybe that's the coma speaking, but I seem to remember it's been broken for years. Courtesy to Leonard's showing-off."

"I took care of it.", Penny replied.

"You got the elevator fixed?"

"Yeah. Actually a funny story I guess. Three months ago I was here, checking the mail and taking care of some stuff, and I accidently ran into the landlord. My mood was super bad while you ... – I totally snapped and yelled at him for like ten minutes or so, I can't really recall. Anyway, the next week two technicians were here and fixed the elevator. Not sure how long it took, I was only here like once a week."

"Impressive."

"Thanks." Penny pressed the button at the elevator and the door opened.

Sheldon felt slightly unsafe as Penny rolled him and the wheelchair into the elevator, remembering clearly how he blew it up.

"Your apartment or mine?", Penny asked after they reached the fourth floor.

Sheldon shrugged and Penny pushed the wheelchair to the right. She unlocked the door to her apartment and for the first time in more than nine months really looked at it. "Uh, it's kind of a mess, sorry."

"Don't worry."

"I already ordered some stuff to help you with your recovery. You need physical therapy and ..."

"Penny, I'm fine."

"You will be when I'm done with you. Wait, that kind of sounded wrong. I ..."

"I love you."

"I love you too, moonpie. Welcome home."


	3. Catching up

warning: death of minor character

* * *

Friday, April 16, 2010

When Sheldon woke up – extremely late for his standards – Penny was sitting at the edge of his bed, watching him. "Good morning, sweetie. How are you feeling today?"

"I'm feeling completely fine, Penny. As I have told you repeatedly. I think I can go back to work on Monday."

Penny winced. "Uh. Okay, first of all, no. Not a chance. You're not nearly back at a hundred percent and I'm not going to let you ..."

"Penny, I can ..."

"Sheldon, wait. I know it's not my decision to make, but there's really something I should tell you first."

"What is that?"

"Well, because you have taken sabbatical leave in July and then you've been in coma, you ... kind of ... got fired."

"What?", Sheldon shouted.

"Some new department policy bullshit, I don't know. I picked up all your stuff, it's in Leonard's old room."

"I can't believe it."

"I'm sorry, sweetie. I'm sure you can get your job back, after all you're still the same genius as before."

Sheldon didn't reply. He seemed to be deep in his thoughts.

"Sweetie, talk to me."

"Maybe it's for the best.", Sheldon said after a while. "As you know I wasn't researching physics anymore anyway, it has been a fraud for some time now. And it's not like we need the money."

"That's true. And this way we can spend even more time together."

Sheldon smiled. "So I'm jobless. For how long?"

"Two months."

"I see."

"I'm glad you're not freaking out over this. I was seriously afraid to tell you."

"I'm fine."

Penny's phone beeped. "That's probably Howard. Yup. He's coming over for dinner tomorrow as planned."

"If he's bringing his mother, we better start cooking right now.", Sheldon joked.

"Oh. I guess that's something else I need to tell you. Howard's mom is dead."

"What?"

"Yeah. And surprisingly it wasn't due to her ... size. She was shot."

"What?"

"Yeah. Some whacko broke out of a psychiatric hospital, robbed a pharmacy and when he came back out she just wanted to go in and he shot her in the head. Howard was right there."

"How did he get a gun?", Sheldon asked.

"I don't know the details, but come on, this is America, almost everyone has a gun."

"I guess I missed even more than I thought."

"Yeah. Anyway, Howard is bringing Bernadette, you remember her, right?"

"Yes, the gap in my memory is limited to the accident and the time I was in coma."

"Is anything coming back?"

"No."

"Hmm."

"And I don't think it will.", Sheldon added. From Penny's retelling he knew the accident had have some similarity to the dream he had in coma and every day since – and he hadn't told Penny about – but he couldn't remember anything after going to get Penny's umbrella.

"Okay, let's see. What else did you miss? Uh, Missy has a new boyfriend."

"I know, my mom told me about it."

"Of course.", Penny said. "Are you disappointed that she's already gone again?"

"No."

"Be honest."

"I am. I'm not a child, I don't need my mother."

"Yes, you're a grown man, you just need your girlfriend, right?", Penny mocked Sheldon.

"Yes.", he replied seriously. "I need you. And no one else."

"You're so sweet."

"Tell me more. I need to catch up with what happened in the five last months."

Penny slipped to Sheldon under the covers and snuggled up to him. "Let me think. The Germans re-elected that horrible Merkel person. That was actually while we were still touring the world, I just saw her in the news this morning. You know what? This would be way easier with the internet, especially since I barely paid attention to what's happened to the outside world while you were ... indisposed."

Conveniently Penny's laptop was just next to her on the nightstand. She opened it up and turned it on.

20 minutes later

"At the winter Olympics in Vancouver we were third in the medal table behind Canada and Germany, but we won the most medals overall."

"And I didn't even know we participated."

"The United States, wisecracker."

"Well, this was fun."

"Wait, we still have March left."

"Maybe later. Now I'm hungry."

"Okay. I prepared pancake batter. Fresh blueberries."

"You're the best."

"I have my moments.", Penny replied. "Do you need help getting up?"

"Penny, I'm ..."

"I know, I know, you're fine. But you can't expect me to stop worrying about you. Not after what we've been through."

"And I love that you're worried about me. I just wished I hadn't given you a reason for it."

"Stop it. The accident was in no way your fault. It was completely on that stupid bitch in the SUV."

"It was a woman? What happened to her? You never said anything."

"You never asked."

"I'm asking now."

"I think that's a story for another day."


	4. Casa de Shenny

Wednesday, May 5, 2010

Full of excitement Penny ran up the stairs. On the third floor she remembered that the elevator was working again, but it didn't matter. Very soon it would never matter again. Catching her breath Penny walked up the last flight of stairs and knocked on Sheldon's door.

"Hey Penny, you're back quickly. Where are the groceries?"

Penny just grinned at her boyfriend.

"Is something wrong?"

"Nope. I just got the best news in a long time. Well, since you woke up, so not actually that long."

"What is it?"

"Our architect just called me – he didn't have your new phone number – and the house is finished, we can move in whenever we want."

Sheldon smiled. "That is good news."

"You don't seem very enthusiastic."

"No, it's great, really."

"What's up, Sheldon?"

"Nothing. I was just a bit distracted, lost in thought. I'm sorry. This is indeed fantastic, I'm very happy for us."

"I'm still going to move in with you, right?"

"Of course. It's long overdue."

"Awesome. Of course we still need to buy a lot of furniture and stuff. How about we go shopping right now?"

"Why don't you do that alone? I still want to get some work done today."

Penny was disappointed. "Okay. But if you don't come along, you can't complain later about what I've chosen."

"I won't. I'm sure I will like whatever you buy, you have excellent taste."

"Thanks.", Penny said and walked to the elevator. "Love you."

"Love you too.", Sheldon replied. He watched Penny until she entered the elevator, closed the apartment door and hurried back to his desk. He just had a flash of genius.

Monday, May 17, 2010

After Penny's four-day shopping marathon and a week with one delivery and setup after the other, the time had come. Today was the day when they would officially move into their new house. Their – that was Penny's favorite part about it.

In less than six weeks her life her life had turned around quite nicely. Six weeks ago Sheldon had been in a coma and no doctor gave him much of a chance. Now he was almost fully recovered – except some issues with his right leg which had taken the most damage – and they were finally moving in together. A year and a half later than Penny had hoped, but maybe it was better this way.

Penny's love to Sheldon had never been stronger and she felt that their relationship had also grown, intensified and simply become even better. If only the same could be said about their sex life. The six-months dry spell was the longest since Penny had been sixteen.

Penny shook her head. Now was not the time to complain. Sheldon would let her know when he was ready to get back in the saddle. Until then she had to be patient. And could enjoy her new home.

"I'm almost done.", Sheldon called from the window on the second floor. He was setting up the security system, which was hugely important to him. In Penny's opinion he was just a bit paranoid, but whatever.

Penny decided to pass the time by taking another walk around the house. The property was huge and so was the house considering only two people were going to live in it. Well, for now. An eight-feet hedge and chain-link fence surrounded the garden which was mostly empty. For now.

And of course there was one of Penny's favorites, the six-hundred square feet large, heated swimming pool behind the house. She couldn't wait to give it a try.

The house itself had everything you would expect to find a millionaire's home. Starting with a walk-in closet and an extra room for Penny's shoes, as well as two hot tubs, a small private cinema, even a piano and an indoor fountain. It was awesome.

Sometimes Penny felt bad for enjoy the benefits of Sheldon's wealth so much. She didn't earn it like she always had planned by becoming an actress. And Sheldon's casual attitude combined with his own modesty didn't help either. He was the one inheriting the millions, but he barely spent anything for himself. The world trip had been for her and so – she suspected – was the house. And Penny could only guess how expensive all of this had been.

The furniture alone had cost more than Penny had earned at the Cheesecake Factory over the three years she had been there – tips included. Due to Penny's hurry it was a chaotic mix of colors and styles that would probably give any interior designer a heart attack. But Sheldon didn't seem to mind – if he even noticed these kind of things – and Penny didn't either. And that's really all that mattered.

When Penny reached the front door again, Sheldon was already waiting for her. "Done?", she asked.

"Done.", Sheldon confirmed.

"Okay." Penny took Sheldon's hand and together they stepped over the door sill. They looked at each other. "That was kind of silly, wasn't it? I mean, we've both have been going in and out here for ten days."

"Now it's official.", Sheldon said and closed the door. "Home, sweet home."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"Hello? Huge, luxurious mansion? You know, the one we're currently standing in?"

"Come on, that's no big deal."

"Yes, it is."

"Well, so is staying at my hospital bed for five months without knowing if I ever wake up."

"You just had to.", Penny replied and kissed Sheldon. "So, what do we call it?"

"Call it? It's a house."

"It's our house.", Penny corrected. "I'd say we call it casa de Shenny."

"Shenny?"

"That's our couple name. Sheldon plus Penny makes Shenny. You know, like Brangelina."

"Very clever, I like it."


	5. Nightmares

pillow talk reloaded ;)

* * *

Saturday, May 29, 2010

Sheldon startled up from his sleep, breathing heavily and covered in sweat. The same nightmare – slightly varied – was plaguing him for almost two months now.

Penny also woke up. "Again?"

Sheldon nodded. "Yeah."

Penny switched on the bedroom light. "Maybe talking about it helps. I really don't understand why you won't tell me what your nightmares are about. You can talk to me about everything."

"Not this.", Sheldon replied. How could he ever explain that he was dreaming about his girlfriend's death almost every night? Sheldon wasn't a supporter of common dream interpretation theories, but that certainly wouldn't make him look good.

"Please."

Sheldon shook his head. This was his burden to carry, not Penny's. He had already made her suffer through five months of a nightmare come true, he had to keep everything upsetting away from her. Even if it meant sacrificing his sleep.

"Sheldon, sweetie, I want to help you, but I can't do that if I don't know what's the problem."

"I just keep having this one dream."

"Yeah, we have already established that you're having nightmares. The question is why. What are these dreams about?"

"I can't tell you."

"Yes, you can. And you will. No secrets, remember?", Penny replied, feeling guilty about the secrets she was keeping herself. Although technically one of it was Sheldon's secret. He just didn't know that she knew.

"It's about ... the accident."

"Do you remember it now?"

"No, not really. But in my nightmares we're in a similar situation, just at different places.", Sheldon said, leaving out that most of these places were their wedding. "The car heads my way, you warn me and then ..."

"And then you get hit.", Penny said after Sheldon stopped talking.

"No."

"No?"

"No. You warn me and then you push me out of the car's path."

"I'm sorry, I fail to see who this is a nightmare. What is bothering you so much?"

"It doesn't end there. Instead of me, the car hits ... you."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, I don't know why I keep having this dream over and over again."

"You don't?", Penny asked. "Seems pretty obvious to me."

"What do you mean?"

"Easy. You had a traumatic experience and even though you don't actually remember it, it's there. Subconsciously. Nobody could just shake that off. And – that's obvious too – you're worried about me, about my safety. That combined probably explains your nightmares."

"That ... does make sense."

"It does, doesn't it? I know what you think of dream interpretation, but in this case ... – anyway, I feel really bad now for making fun of you for all the security measures around here. You just wanted me to be save, didn't you?"

Sheldon nodded. "Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay. It didn't help anyway. I know that we're very save in here ..."

"Our own fortress of solitude.", Penny said, referencing superman. "Well, not solitude, togetherness. Fortress of togetherness – not as poetic, but way more romantic."

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry, I interrupted you. You were saying?"

"I know that you're not in danger, the house is secure, your car is save and this neighborhood has a crime rate close to zero, but I can't stop worrying."

"And I wouldn't expect you to, but we have to find a way to make these nightmares stop."

"It's okay, I'm ..."

"Don't you dare to say you're fine. You're not fine, Sheldon. You don't get sleep and ... – well, you know better than me how important a good night's rest is."

"Yes."

"Okay, so what do we do about it? And why didn't you want to tell me about this anyway?"

"Penny, I was dreaming about you getting severely injured or ... worse."

"So what?"

"I don't think I should dream something like that."

"Oh sweetie. It's not like you want that to happen. You can't control your dreams, why would I blame you for a nightmare of yours?"

"I don't know."

"I wouldn't."

"Thank you."

"Wanna try and go back to sleep?"

"Okay."

"I love you, Sheldon."

"I love you, Penny."


	6. Fears and Fights

or: every man's worst nightmare and some men's fantasy

* * *

Thursday, June 3, 2010

"I'm sorry, Penny. I can't."

"Come on, sweetie. It's been ... eight weeks since you woke up. More than half a year since we last ... – and you can't tell me you don't want me, I can see the fire in your eyes when we're making out."

"Penny, I'm not saying I don't want to. I want to, believe me. But I can't."

"What are you talking about? Nobody is stopping you. I'm more than willing and I need ... you."

"I ... can't, Penny."

"Yeah, I heard you the first two times, but ... – oh. You mean you ... can't. Oh."

"This is so embarrassing."

"No, that can happened to everyone occasionally. Well, every man."

"I'm not sure I would call myself a man right now."

"Don't be silly, sweetie. Of course you're a man. You're my man. And I'm sure it's a passing thing, probably because of the accident or the coma. You know that the doctor said ..."

"What if it's not? As you said, it has been eight weeks – that doesn't scream occasionally or passing thing to me. What if I will never be able to ... perform again?"

"There is really no reason to assume the worst case scenario. You have to think optimistic."

"But what if?"

"Well, that would suck."

"Would you ... leave me?"

Penny took a deep breath. "I really don't want to have to go over this again. I love you and no, I wouldn't leave if you could never ... get it up again. Which won't happen."

"Sex is very important to you.", Sheldon stated.

"I'm not going to deny that. But it's not what our relationship is about, it never has been."

"Hmm."

"Do you disagree?", Penny asked.

"No. Thank you for being so ... understanding. Again."

"You really have to stop bottling up your problems. Sometimes just talking about it helps. Your nightmares for example. We talked about it and now you didn't have any for four days. Or five?"

"Five."

"See? That's fantastic. And this problem can very well be a psychological one too. You can't pressure yourself, stay positive and I will have to restrain myself for a while longer."

"I still can take care of your needs in other ways.", Sheldon said.

"I'm looking forward to finding out what other ways you have in mind. Tonight. But now I want to tell you something I should have told you weeks ago. I was afraid you would be upset. Actually I'm certain you will be upset."

"That doesn't sound good."

"Okay, so ...", Penny started.

"Penny?"

"It's about your accident. There's a part I haven't told you about. You know that it was a woman behind the wheel, but not that ... she drove off after she hit you."

"Oh. Was she caught?"

"That's kind of complicated. A security camera of the hotel filmed the number plate and the owner of the SUV could be easily identified."

"That's good."

"I wasn't finished. It turned out that the driver was an American, a member of the US embassy in Paris. And because of that she had diplomatic immunity and couldn't be prosecuted."

"Oh."

"I'm sorry, I know that's a huge injustice and you have every right to be angry and ..."

"I'm not angry, Penny."

"No?"

"I just want to leave this all behind me and move on with our life together."

"That's very mature of you. Unfortunately I wasn't as mature, but all the more angry."

"What are you talking about?"

"A while after I – or technically your mother – had transferred you to Los Angeles I found out that the bitch was coming to town as well."

"Penny, what did you do?"

"I confronted her."

"And?"

"And then there might or might not have been a fist fight which I might or might not have initiated."

"I know I shouldn't, but I'm proud of you. I assume you won the fight?"

"If getting restrained by three cops after breaking the bitch's nose counts as winning, then yes."

* * *

I'm not sure if diplomatic immunity does actually work that way, but I'm not going to let reality bother me ;)


	7. A Cuddly Surprise

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Penny was zapping through the channels as Sheldon put his hand on her shoulder. "Damn, do you have to sneak up behind me like this?"

"Sorry. Do you have a minute?"

"For you always."

Sheldon sat down on the couch, but not right next to Penny. "I have realized that I have been very selfish lately."

"I have no idea what you're talking about, but that really doesn't sound like you."

"I have been so focused on my work and the issues I had, we barely got a chance to talk about how the five months I have been in coma were for you."

Penny swallowed hard. "Well, now you're awake, everything is fine."

"Penny, remind me, what did you say about bottling up things?", Sheldon asked, obviously not actually having to be reminded.

"What do you want me to say? That I was miserable? Of course I was. But you already knew that, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"Look, I'm not the one who was in a horrific accident. You were. I got off easy."

"I doubt that. I think you suffered way more than I did. I was just unconscious for five months."

"Okay, you want the full truth? I was devastated, I was desperate, I was angry and everyone and everything. And I was so close to giving up on you several times. And not just you, on me as well, life in general."

Sheldon was shocked. "Penny, are you saying that ..."

"I don't know, maybe. It certainly crossed my mind a couple of times."

"Penny, that's ... – I ... – Penny, I ..."

"Try building sentences, sweetie."

"I'm so sorry, Penny."

"Sheldon, you already apologized the day we left the hospital and I already told you that's completely unnecessary."

"Still, I ... – oh Penny." Sheldon closed in on Penny and hugged her.

"I'm fine, Sheldon.", Penny said, but tears ran down her cheeks. She had successfully suppressed the memories of her dark phases so far and now it was all coming back.

"I love you, Penny."

"I know, sweetie. I love you too. And it was your love, our love that helped me get through these days and push away these thoughts."

Sheldon's brain was working like crazy. There had to be something he could say, something he could do to make Penny's pain go away, to make good for her suffering.

"Have I told you the story ...", Penny started, wiping her tears away. "... when I broke the hospital's coffee vending machine?"

30 minutes later

"And one day – night actually – I was so tired and so out of it, I walked around on the floors and heard some noise coming from one of the patients room, so I opened the door a crack and stuck my head in."

"And?"

"And Doctor Parker was totally banging this Asian nurse."

"No."

"I'm telling you, it's true."

"But he's married."

"Well, that's the world we live in."

"Did they see you?"

"Luckily not, but it was still weird afterwards."

"I can imagine."

"Yeah.", Penny said and kissed Sheldon on the cheek. "Thank you, Sheldon. It felt really good getting some of this off the chest."

"I'm sorry I didn't ask earlier."

"It's okay, really. I'm good. It was a tough time, but the moment you woke up and called my name, everything was right again."

"Good, good. But I still got a surprise for you that was supposed to cheer you up in case this talk had went ... not so well."

"Oh really?"

"Yes. Last week I remembered a small piece about that fateful day. Not the accident itself, but immediately before it. I said something to you and I want to honor the promise I gave you." Sheldon took a small photo of a grey kitten from his back pocket. "His name is Shadow and if you want, he's ours."

"We're getting a kitten?"

"I take that means ..."

"Yes, yes, yes!"

* * *

Special thanks to Shenny Fan

Next chapter: The Ring ...

Really have to catch up with my additional scenes though, might take an extra day or two.


	8. The Ring

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Sheldon was sitting in the middle of the newly set up cat room and watched Shadow playing with a tiny football on a string. Kittens surely had their way to get people to become attached to them in no time.

Penny knocked on the doorframe and entered. "How is he doing?"

"He seems to have fun."

"Good." Penny sat down next to Sheldon. "Can I talk to you about something?"

"Sure. Should we go somewhere else?"

"He can't understand us, Sheldon."

"I know that."

"Okay, so it's about something that happened while you were in coma."

"I thought you told me everything by now.", Sheldon said. Over the last days they had spent many hours talking about the five months Penny had been alone.

"That's the last thing, I promise."

"Okay, go on."

"A couple of weeks after you were transferred to L.A. – shortly after the fighting incident – I was in my apartment, picking up some clothes and stuff, and I noticed that I barely had any clean underwear anymore – actually I had plenty, it was in a bag in my car, but I had forgotten about that. Anyway, I remembered that I always had a couple of pieces at your place, so I went over to your room and ..."

"And?"

"Let me first say that I didn't intend to snoop, I swear. But I was in a hurry, wanted to get back to you, and I opened the wrong drawer and looked for my underwear and that was when I found ... it."

"Oh."

"Do you know what I'm talking about?"

"I think so. Small box, covered in blue velvet?"

"Yes.", Penny replied. "And I also looked inside."

"I understand."

"I'm sorry, I know that was wrong, it was none of my business, but you have to understand that ..."

"Penny, calm down. That might not have been the way I intended you to find out, but basically you already knew we were heading down that road, didn't you?"

"I presumed it."

"Well, since you already seen it, do you like it? Because I can totally get a new one if you don't."

"It's beautiful."

"I saw it when I was in the mall before our trip and it just ... hit me. It was perfect. I could see me putting it on your finger and ... – long story short, I bought it."

"Did you have plans on ... proposing?"

"I wanted to figure something out once we were back from our trip, but now it kind of got delayed."

"I understand."

"You're disappointed."

"No, don't be silly, you could have hardly proposed to me while being in a coma."

"I'm awake for more than two months now."

"And we both had to deal with some stuff. We moved and got a cat." On cue Shadow let go of his toys and sat down in front of Penny, looking at her with his big green eyes. "The cutest little cat in the world. Yes, that's you. You're the cutest kitten in the world." Penny turned her attention back to Sheldon. "As I said before, there's no rush."

"I'm the luckiest guy in the world for you being my girlfriend."

"Yes, you are." Penny picked Shadow up and let him lick her nose. "And I'm the luckiest girl in the world for having you two in my life."

"Oh, not even a week and I already have to share my place in your heart with a kitten?"

"Never. But he is impossible to resist, isn't he?"

Sheldon pouted. "That's what you used to say about me."

"Well, he doesn't get to share a bed with me."

"So we're on the same page on this?"

"Yes. Shadow stays downstairs and the second floor is just for the two of us."

"Good."

"Okay, I have to get started on the cooking, tagliatelle with salmon.", Penny said and passed Shadow over to Sheldon. "Don't worry, I will wash my hands and face before handling any food. And make sure I don't have any cat hairs on my clothes."

"Thank you."

"And don't forget, we're having lunch with Howard and Bernadette tomorrow."

* * *

isn't it amazing that you can talk/write about something without even actually mentioning it once?


	9. Engagement

probably not what you're thinking

* * *

Monday, June 14, 2010

"We're way too early, Sheldon."

"That's because you ignored the speed limit for most of the way here."

"No, that's because you insisted to leave at noon even though we meet Howard and Bernadette at one o'clock and it's just a thirty-minute drive."

"Twenty-five minutes if you drive."

"I always drive!"

"No need to yell."

"Sorry."

"I thought you were okay with me not having a driver's license."

"I am. I don't mind driving."

"But?"

"But I also wouldn't oppose it if you chose to get your driver's license."

"Noted.", Sheldon said and opened the glass door for Penny to enter the restaurant.

"Thank you. Oh, looks like we're not that early after all."

"Yes, we are. It's now exactly ..."

Penny pointed at the corner booth. "Howard and Bernadette are already here as well."

"And they're behaving very inappropriately."

"Come on, as if we have never made out in a restaurant full of people.", Penny replied and kissed Sheldon on the cheek. "I seem to remember that you ..."

"I don't need to be reminded."

Bernadette had spotted Sheldon and Penny and waved at them. "Let's go, moonpie.", Penny said.

"Not in front of them, remember?"

"Yes, lover-boy."

"Penny, please."

Penny didn't reply as they approached Howard's and Bernadette's table. The girls hugged while the men just nodded politely at each other. Everyone sat down, but no one spoke.

Even though Howard and Bernadette had been visited him in the hospital, Sheldon technically hadn't seen either of them in more than eleven months. His coma was the obvious elephant in the room.

"So ...", Howard started.

Bernadette took over after a helpless look from her boyfriend. "He's trying to say that we're happy that you're back under the living."

"Thank you.", Sheldon replied.

"Not that you were actually dead, but ..."

"It's okay."

"So, what have you two been up to lately?", Penny asked after some more silence, trying to get rid of the awkwardness.

"Well ..." Howard and Bernadette exchanged a long look. "We're engaged!", they revealed in unison.

Penny's reaction came instinctively and immediately. "Congratulations, I'm so happy for you two."

"Congratulations.", Sheldon said as well and smiled, but it wasn't an honestly happy smile. Wow, the timing of this news couldn't possibly have been any weirder. Not much more than twenty-four hours ago he and Penny had talked about getting engaged themselves and even though she had been super cool about it, Howard's and Bernadette's engagement was certainly putting some pressure on him.

"So, how did he ask you?", Penny asked. "Was it romantic?"

"Actually she asked me.", Howard answered.

"Oh really?"

"Yeah. Howie would have never managed to do it, so ..."

"Hey!", Howard interjected. "I would have ask you ... eventually."

"I wasn't so sure. Anyway, I bought two rings and just asked him after dinner the other night. Nothing special, but ..."

"The special part followed afterwards.", Howard added. "Bernie can be a beast in ..."

"Howie!"

"Okay, I don't want to hear about that, seriously.", Penny said. "Do you already have set a date for the wedding?"

"We're still working on the details, but it will be in the fall, probably October."

"Well, let me know when you have a date, so that we can keep the day free."

One and a half hours later

Back in the car Penny took a deep breath. "Well, that was ... something."

"Yeah."

"You were quite quiet in there."

"Well, you know me."

"Exactly. I know what you're thinking right now and what you have been thinking about the last one and a half hours."

"No offense, but I don't think you do."

"Nothing has changed, Sheldon."

"I beg to differ. Howard and Bernadette are engaged and will get married. That's definitely a change compared to when they were not engaged."

"Yeah, but nothing has changed for us.", Penny replied, emphasizing the last two words. "And just for your information, the Sheldon Cooper I love isn't pressured into doing something because someone else did it first."

Sheldon was barely listening. In his head he was listing all parameters to be considered when proposing to Penny. He should easily be able to do better than Bernadette.


	10. Kurt's Return

Saturday, June 19, 2010

"Why don't you find us a table? There is really no need for both of us to stand in line."

"Yeah, good idea. Okay, I'll have ..."

"... lemon, melon and pistachio, no whipped cream, in a cup."

"Am I really that predictable?", Penny asked.

"Reliable."

"Same thing." Penny gave Sheldon a kiss and left the ice cream parlor. There were almost twenty small tables outside, most of them occupied. Penny headed for the only free table she spotted and sat down.

"Penny?", she heard a familiar voice, but she couldn't match it.

Penny turned her head to see her ex-boyfriend of two and a half years. "Kurt?"

"What a coincidence to meet you here."

"Yeah, indeed."

Without asking Kurt sat down on the chair next to Penny. "You're looking good."

"Thanks. You look good too.", Penny replied. He really did.

"How are you doing?", Kurt asked.

"Good. Great actually. How about yourself? Are you still living in Glendale?" Penny had no idea why she was trying to do small-talk with her ex, the situation was weird.

"Yes, but in a new apartment. Bigger one."

"Good for you.", Penny replied and drummed her finger on the table. Why didn't he just leave?

"I've been thinking about you a lot lately."

"You have?"

"Yeah. We had a pretty good time together until ... you know."

"Until you cheated on me."

"Yeah. I'm really sorry about that."

"That was three years ago, forgiven and forgotten." It was true, Penny didn't have any hard feelings anymore and hadn't wasted a thought on Kurt and his cheating in a long time. While it surely had occupied her mind after they had broken up, she had absolutely no doubts about Sheldon's faithfulness, so this kind of issues were in her past.

"I wanted to call you."

"New phone number."

"Do you think we could try it again? I have changed, Penny."

"Kurt, I'm in a relationship."

"With whom?"

"His name is Sheldon and ..."

"Sheldon? One of these weakly nerds you sent to take my TV?"

Penny had completely forgotten about the incident of the day she first met Sheldon. "First of all, it was my TV. And secondly, yes."

"You can't be serious."

"Kurt, I ..."

"Don't you want a real man? Here, have a feel." Kurt stood up, took Penny's hand and put it under his shirt.

Sheldon stepped outside with two ice cream cups in his hands and looked around for Penny.

"Well, if that isn't Doctor Dumbass."

"Leslie Winkle.", Sheldon hissed. "What do you want?"

"As much as I would like to make fun of you for getting canned again, I think I should first point you to the blonde over there feeling up this guy. Isn't she your girlfriend?"

Sheldon looked in the direction Leslie pointed and saw Penny with Kurt. "What the fuck?"

"You didn't really think you could ..."

"Shut up, Leslie!" Determinedly Sheldon approached Penny's table, leaving Leslie behind.

After having a – very long – weak moment of letting her hand roam over Kurt's extremely ripped chest, Penny withdrew it and stood up, pushing her chair back to get more distance between Kurt and herself. "Okay, let me make one thing perfectly clear here. I love ... – Sheldon! This isn't what it looks like, I swear."

"Would you mind explaining me what it is?", Sheldon asked calmly, ignoring Kurt completely.

"Well, I ... – I ran into Kurt here and we talked for a moment and ... – Kurt, could you leave us alone please?"

"I think he should stay.", Leslie chipped in who had followed Sheldon. "This should be fun."

"Leslie Winkle?"

Sheldon took a deep breath to keep his composure. Two of his least favorite person in the world at the same place at the same – and the day had started off so nicely.

"Come on, Sheldon, let's go. We can eat our ice cream on the way."

5 minutes later

"Sheldon, please, say something.", Penny pleaded, not being able to stand the silence any longer.

"The weather is nice today, isn't it?"

"Not what I meant, you know that."

"What do you want me to say? You can't expect me to be thrilled about meeting Kurt and you ... – whatever you were doing."

"I was really doing nothing. Kurt took my hand and ..."

"You didn't seem to mind, you touched him for at least half a minute."

"I had a weak moment, okay? And I did mind. Sheldon, I swear to you, I would never ..."

"I'm not worried about your faithfulness, Penny."

"Okay. That's good."

"But on the risk of sounding insecure and possessive, I don't want anything like that to ever happen again."

"Absolutely. I'm really sorry, I don't know what had gotten into me."

"I think that question is easily to answer. He's your type."

"No, he's not. You're my type, Sheldon. Just you."


	11. Leonard's Revenge

I really only have ideas for Leonard where he's an asshole. And I don't even dislike his character that much (unlike Amy).

Warning: some mature language

* * *

Tuesday, June 22, 2010

"I can't believe my sister moved to L.A. without telling me."

"Penny, she's a grown woman."

"And the first time we meet since a year and a half she wants to bring her boyfriend?"

"As do you."

"That's different."

"I would ask you how, but we both know that this kind of conversations usually ..."

"You think I'm irrational."

"I think you should be happy your sister lives only twenty minute from here now."

"I am."

"And I'm looking forward to meet Hannah."

"You already met her, Thanksgiving the year before last."

"Barely. She was sitting on the other end of the table and after dinner she was gone pretty quickly."

"I never introduced her to you?"

"No."

"Well, that's something we need to correct. I think you will like her."

"If she's anything like you, I'm sure I will."

Three hours later

"And of course she's late. Hannah always had a problem with being punctual."

"It's just two minutes, Penny."

"It's the principle that counts. After all it was her and not me insisting to meet today. And I'm expected to jump whenever she wants and wait for her?"

Sheldon didn't reply. There was clearly an underlying issue here, but he wasn't too keen on discussing it in public.

Penny constantly looked at the time on her phone, rolled her eyes, puffed and groan to demonstrated her annoyance.

After a couple of minutes Sheldon decided to try and distract Penny. "Have I told you what Shadow did this morning?"

"Not now, Sheldon.", Penny answered testily. "Six minutes already."

"Penny ..."

"What?"

Sheldon didn't know what to say, but he was saved by the arrival of Hannah and her boyfriend. The feeling of relief quickly turned into shock and confusion when he saw that Hannah was in company of an old acquaintance.

"Leonard? What the fuck?"

"You two know each other?", Hannah asked.

"We have ... met before. How did you ... – what the fuck?"

"I've met Hannah the day she moved here.", Leonard answered. "Isn't she great? Like a younger and hotter version of Penny."

"You son of a bitch!"

"Hey, don't talk to him like that!"

"Hannah, you don't understand. He's ..."

"Oh, I do understand. You're jealous."

"Don't be ridiculous. He's trying to get back at me, he doesn't care about you."

"Oh, it always has to be about you, hasn't it? Just like when we were kids. I knew this was a mistake, I'm leaving."

Leonard stood there and grinned wickedly while Hannah stormed out of the almost empty diner.

Sheldon, who so far had only watched the scene, stood up and followed her. "Try not to kill him until I'm back."

"I can't promise anything."

Sheldon almost had to sprint to catch up with Penny's sister, who dropped her purse in the middle of the street. Sheldon picked it up and returned it to Hannah on the other side.

"Thanks. You're Sheldon, right?"

Sheldon nodded. "Yes. And you really should know some things about Leonard."

"Okay, I'm listening."

Meanwhile Penny tried her best to stare Leonard to death and at the same time not to go full rodeo on him.

"You're little sis is an animal between the sheets, Penny.", Leonard said after one minute.

Penny jumped up, causing her chair to fall over. "You're a dead man!"

"If you touch me, I will call the police.", Leonard replied calmly. "She's a total slut, just like you."

"Leonard, I'm warning you."

"She's into some really dirty stuff."

Penny growled angrily while she slowly walked around the table and towards Leonard, who didn't flinch.

"I want to think of you me when I'm banging your little sister tonight."

Penny couldn't take it anymore. She snapped, grabbed Leonard by the collar and slammed him against the wall, drawing the attention of two men sitting at the counter and a waitress. "I'm going to cut your ..."

"Penny, it's okay. I've heard enough. Sheldon explained me everything." Hannah walked up to Leonard and slapped him in the face as hard as she could.

Sheldon, the waitress and the costumers contorted their faces with pain, Penny smiled. "You always had quite the punch."

"Let's go, I think we have some catching up to do."

"This doesn't change anything.", Leonard growled. The left side of his face was beet-red. "I still have the photos I made the other night." Demonstratively he took out his phone and waved it in front of Penny and Hannah.

"Give that to me!", Penny demanded and tried to grab Leonard's phone, but he was quicker and pulled back his hand.

"Fuck off. These are going on the internet."

Sheldon could see that Penny was close to beating the shit out of Leonard, so he went first. He pressed Leonard against the wall, chocking him with his forearm. He took the phone and gave it to Penny. "Delete all his photos. And to be save, all videos and audio files too."

Penny nodded and went to work.

"Did you make any copies of these photos?"

"Fuck ... you."

Sheldon applied more pressure to Leonard's throat. "Answer me."

"Stop, you're ... – no."

"Very good.", Sheldon said and let go of Leonard.

Penny was finished and returned Leonard's phone to Sheldon who stuffed it into the front pocket of Leonard's polo shirt.

"You're going to pay for this."

"Give it up, Leonard."

"You almost strangled me."

"You were never in any real danger and you won't have any permanent damage."

"You arrogant ..."

"Let it go or I will make it my life's mission to ruin yours.", Sheldon bluffed. "If you think you're bad off now, you know nothing. You will stay away from Penny's family and mine and our friends, do you understand?"

"Yes."

"Good. You have really better things to do than revenge. I've read about your research, very promising." With these propitiatory words Sheldon linked arms with Penny and Hannah and together the three left the diner.

* * *

I think that's it for Leonard, Hannah will definitely return (after all her sister will get married in the not so far future).


	12. The Tradition Resurrection

Wednesday, June 30, 2010

Wednesday was comic book night. Even though the tradition had been put on hold for the last year, it certainly hadn't been forgotten by Penny. And neither by Sheldon obviously. He immediately guessed correctly when Penny announced a surprise trip to Pasadena.

So it wasn't a surprise anymore, but nevertheless Sheldon smiled when Penny parked her car in front of Stuart Bloom's shop in Green Street. They got out of the car and entered the store.

It was empty except for Stuart himself who was at the other end of the salesroom, cursing quietly.

"Oh my, what happened here?", Penny asked.

Stuart turned around. "Penny, Sheldon, hi. Two nights ago someone broke in here and trashed everything."

"Are you okay? Don't you live in the back?"

"Luckily I couldn't sleep and was out for a walk. I don't want to know what would have happened if I had been here."

"What a mess.", Sheldon commented.

"Yeah, I know. But I still have the new comic books here, I assume that's why you're here. I just haven't unpacked yet, with the store looking like this I didn't expect any costumers."

"Great."

"We also came to see you.", Penny said, sensing that Stuart could use some nice words. "Isn't that right, Sheldon?"

"Yes, of course. Penny told me that you visited me in the hospital."

"Yeah, what about that? How are you doing?"

"I'm fully recovered, back to normal."

"In every way.", Penny added.

"That's good to hear."

"And how are you doing, Stuart? Got a girlfriend?"

"No, I'm afraid not. There was this girl, Alice, she came in the store last week and gave me her number, but ..."

"But?", Penny probed into the subject.

"I probably won't call her."

"Why not? Don't you like her?"

"No, she's great. She's a comic book enthusiast and even draws her own, but she's also really attractive, totally out of my league."

"So you won't call her because she's too attractive?"

"Uh, yeah, kind of."

"That doesn't make any sense. You should call her, she didn't give you her number for nothing."

"I don't know.", Stuart replied.

"You should really listen to Penny.", Sheldon chipped in. "She knows and understands people way better than we both ever will. And look at us, sometimes the nerd gets the hot girl."

Penny blushed and giggled and Stuart gave a small smile. "Okay, I'll call her tomorrow."

"Good decision." Once more Penny looked around the wrecked comic book store. "This will be quite the work to rebuilt."

"Yeah. Luckily it's all insured.", Stuart replied. "If only the insurance company would pay right away.", he added quieter.

"Problems with the insurance?"

"Well, they have to assess the damages first and the people who do that are totally swamped with work, it can take weeks until someone shows up. And then the handling process, even longer. And I barely get by with the usual bills."

"That's very unfortunate.", Sheldon commented while going through the packet with the new releases.

"Sheldon, can we talk for a second?", Penny asked and dragged him by the arm.

"Hey, not so rough.", Sheldon complained.

"Don't you think we could help Stuart out of this situation?", Penny whispered.

"How so?"

"You know, we could spot him some money for example."

"That would probably help."

"Is that a yes?"

Sheldon nodded and turned around to the owner of the comic book store. "Stuart, how much do you think you will need to rebuild everything and stock up your stores?"

"I don't know, why do you ask?"

"Penny and I would like to help you out with a loan."

"Oh no, I can't take money from you."

"Why not? I'm sure you've heard that I inherited a rather large sum, it's really no problem."

"No, we're friends, that would be wrong. And even with the insurance money, I can't be sure that I will be able to pay you back."

"That's our risk to take.", Sheldon replied.

"You're really serious about this?"

"We are.", Penny answered.

"Okay, I guess ... – thank you."

Penny took the checkbook and a ball pen from her purse and gave it to Sheldon. He filled a check out, signed it, separated it from the rest and handed it to Stuart.

"Wow, that's a lot."

"Is it sufficient?"

"Yeah, absolutely, thank you."

"And I'll have these.", Sheldon said and held up a stack of comic books.

"Okay. I guess it would be rude to charge you for it now."

"It would be a bad business practice if you don't."

40 minutes later

"Oh, I would have loved to see that. Leonard always stroke me as ..."

"... a deceitful rat?", Penny finished Stuart's sentence.

"Penny, I wish you wouldn't be so proud of the fact that I got violent against Leonard."

"You were a white knight in shining armor, protecting me and my sister – that's how legends come about."

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Okay, let's head home."

"See you next week?", Stuart asked. "By then it should look much nicer here."

Sheldon looked at Penny, she nodded. "Wednesday."

"Great. And uh, Sheldon, would you mind if I use a bit of the money to take Alice out to a nice restaurant?"

"Of course not.", Penny answered in place of her boyfriend. "And if things go well, we can double-date sometime."

Sheldon and Penny left the store and got in the car. "You know I don't like double dates."

* * *

In case that's unclear, I'm refering to Alice from episode 5x07.


	13. Coffee Break

Sunday, July 25, 2010

Penny was lying on the couch in the downstairs entertainment room and sipped her coffee. Shadow was lying on her legs, sleeping peacefully and snoring quietly.

The last few weeks had been rather uneventful, Sheldon had completely dived into his work, not leaving much time for anything else. Nevertheless he was still the same amazing boyfriend as usual – when he didn't lock himself in his office or lab. Twelve-hour days were the standard and sometimes Penny woke up in the middle of the night to see that Sheldon wasn't in bed next to her.

Penny was worried that Sheldon was way too obsessed with his idea – as Penny called it jokingly – of anti-ageing. He struggled to deal with death in general and the thought of her dying eventually was just unbearable for him as he had admitted once.

The truth was, Penny didn't believe that it was possible. As hard as she tried, stopping the ageing progress and potentially living for hundreds of years sounded just too much like cheap sci-fi. Also, she was kind of looking forward to growing old together with Sheldon. Not that the idea of eternal youth wasn't exciting.

Penny had never voiced her doubts and it had caused her several sleepless nights. Believing in Sheldon and not believing in what he was doing seemed hardly compatible. At some point she would have to talk with him, but not yet. Maybe in a couple of months, until then she would do everything to support her man.

Not that she could actually do a lot. With all the time Sheldon spent alone recently, Penny needed some new activities for herself. Besides doing a lot of yoga, she spent a lot of time with Shadow and had also taken a couple of advanced acting classes. She had also had several auditions, but she hadn't gotten any of the roles she had been aiming at. Instead she had received plenty of offers for minor parts, TV spots and even modeling, but Penny didn't feel like doing any of it.

Strictly speaking the year Penny had given herself to make at least some kind of progress in her acting career was long over anyway, but since she had been out of the country and at Sheldon's hospital bed for most of that time, the deadline wasn't relevant anymore.

Notwithstanding Penny's doubts considering her career choice were stronger than ever before. She just wasn't with her heart in it anymore.

Besides Sheldon, the only thing Penny could really get excited about right now was Shadow. Six weeks ago they had gotten the grey, green-eyed kitten, almost three months old he was now. For a while Penny had been worried that Shadow wasn't growing fast enough, but – by the opinion of all three veterinarians they had been to – he was completely healthy.

Howard and Bernadette had set their wedding for October 3, the official invitation had arrived on Friday. Stuart and Alice were hitting off great, a double date was scheduled for next week – with only quiet protests by Sheldon.

Not so quiet had been the delayed fallout of the Kurt-incident, but after Sheldon had screamed out his anger, everything was fine now.

Penny reached out and put her almost empty coffee mug on the table in front of her. The slight movement was enough to wake up Shadow, he hopped to the floor and looked up to the cup. It wasn't the first time he showed interest in coffee – and there wasn't even milk in it.

"No coffee for kittens.", Penny said. Shadow looked at her and meowed. "Don't give me that look."

Sheldon entered the room. "Do you understand now how I feel when you give me your puppy dog look?"

"Come on, he's much worse. How are you doing, sweetie?"

"I'm ... getting along great."

Penny didn't follow up on Sheldon's work, she never did.

"Everything alright with you two?", Sheldon asked.

"We're fine.", Penny replied and picked Shadow up, but he resisted, so she put him right back down.

"Okay, just wanted to check up on you, have to get back to ..." Before Sheldon could finish the sentence, he crumpled to the ground.

"Sheldon!"

As quickly as he went down, Sheldon was back on his feet. "I'm fine, I'm fine."

"What the hell was that? Are you feeling dizzy or something?"

"It's just ... nothing."

"Sit down, I'll get you a glass of water."

Penny left the room and Sheldon took out his PDA. He created a new reminder and – after short pondering – set a date and time.

_Proposal in 5 weeks, 6 days, 2 hours, 54 minutes_

* * *

next up: Penny vs Meemaw II


	14. Ruth

Saturday, July 31, 2010

"Okay, I have to go. Goodbye Ruth.", Sheldon said and hung up.

"Since when do you call your meemaw Ruth?", Penny asked. "And what's up with the cold tone?"

"Penny, I have to apologize to you. Every time I talked to my grandmother about you, she made some snarky remark, but I just realized that now. She seems to have a very low opinion of you for some reason."

"Yeah, I know."

"You know? How so?"

"When she visited you ... almost two years ago, she asked to speak to me alone, remember? And she ... – well, let's say she was very straightforward."

"What did she say to you?", Sheldon asked angrily.

"Sweetie, calm down, it's no big deal."

"Yes, it is. Her behavior is completely unacceptable."

"Sheldon, listen to me. Under no circumstances I want to get between you and a beloved family member of yours. She loves you, she doesn't have to like me."

"But she does.", Sheldon disagreed. "There is no me without you. When she insults you, she insults me as well."

"Oh sweetie, you always say the most romantic things."

"I'm glad you agree with me."

"I don't."

"But ..."

"I appreciate that you want to defend me, but you can't ..."

"You will always come first, Penny."

"Let's try this from a different angle. Do you think everyone in my family likes you? And do you want me to never talk to them again or treat them as coldly as you talked to your meemaw? Especially if I was really close to them before?"

"Who doesn't like me? Did someone say something?"

"Sheldon, you're missing the point."

"I understand you quite well, but there are certainly limits. I need to know exactly what Ruth said to you when you were alone with her."

"I don't remember exactly what she said."

"Penny."

"I'm not a genius with an eidetic memory like you, okay?"

"My genius brain tells me that you're avoiding to answer my question because Ruth said something really terrible. Tell me."

"Okay, okay. For some reason she seemed to be convinced that I was ... somehow ... taking advantage of you. That I was just playing with you and didn't have real feeling for you. And she called me a skank."

"That's not tolerable. You should have told me right away."

"To what purpose? This has no influence on our relationship. It's only about you and your meemaw. I haven't even seen her or talked to her since."

"But she visited me in the hospital."

"I wasn't around for that. Your mom accompanied her, I was in Pasadena for a couple of hours that day. I didn't want to provoke a conflict."

"I understand."

"You should call her back, right now."

"Maybe tomorrow."

Wednesday, August 4, 2010

"How are you feeling, sweetie?"

Wordlessly Sheldon opened the door on the passenger side of the rental car and got in.

Penny went around the Chevrolet and sat down, placing her hand on Sheldon's upper leg. "How are you feeling?", she repeated.

"I killed her."

"No, you didn't. She had a stroke."

"I should have called her back."

Penny said nothing. She really wished Sheldon's last words to his grandmother hadn't been overshadowed by the conflict between Ruth and herself. She also wished she could have sorted things out or at least gotten an explanation for the mistrust.

"We should go, our flight home is in an hour."

"Okay.", Penny replied and started the engine.

The drive to the airport was spent in silence. It had been a small, simple funeral. Apparently most of Ruth's friends had passed away before her.

So far Sheldon had taken it relatively well considering the circumstances. It wasn't nearly as bad as after the death of his uncle. Penny had the impression that Sheldon tried to soften his pain by focusing on the things his meemaw had said about his girlfriend instead of the happy memories.

Shadow was at a pet day care in Santa Clarita, Penny hadn't felt comfortable with leaving the still very young cat alone for so long.

After the funeral Missy's boyfriend had let slip that she was pregnant, four months already. Sheldon had barely taken notice, but Penny couldn't stop thinking about it since. Sure, Missy was older than her, but she shouldn't completely lose sight of the topic.

* * *

Last character death for a while, I promise. Only 2 chapters left, next up Amy's return.


	15. The Stalker

I considered to make this a part of it's own or at least multiple chapters, but decided to go with a shortend version.

* * *

Tuesday, August 10, 2010

"Sheldon!", Penny shouted. "Sheldon! Get down here!"

Only seconds later Sheldon came running down the stairs. "Penny? Are you alright?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I think."

"What happened?"

"Look at this." Penny gave Sheldon a pile of photos. "These were in the mail."

Sheldon went through the pictures, getting more and more worried. It were photos of him, Penny and both of them together at varying places. In front of their new favorite restaurant and the diner where they met Hannah and Leonard, walking away from the cafe after the encounter with Kurt and Leslie, in the comic books store with Stuart, Penny on the supermarket parking lot and more. There were even several pictures of them at Ruth's funeral in Texas.

"What is going on here, Sheldon?", Penny asked.

"Who sent these?"

"No sender on the envelope."

"And nothing else inside?"

"No. Sheldon, is someone stalking us?"

"It looks that way."

"Why would someone follow us around? Do you think we could be in danger?"

"This is very worrying. The good thing is, all photos are taken in public places, whoever took these doesn't seem to have been anywhere near the house."

"Not with your security measures."

"I told you it wasn't unnecessary."

"Should we call the police?"

"I don't think they can do anything."

Both Sheldon and Penny winced when his phone rang.

"Unknown number.", Sheldon said and picked up. "Doctor Cooper." On the other side was only quiet breathing to be heard. "Hello?"

"Do you like my photos?", a distorted voice asked.

"Your photos? Who are you?"

"We have met before."

"Why are you doing this? What do you want from us?"

"Your attention. For now.", the voice said, then the call was ended.

"What the fuck was that?", Penny asked.

"Nothing good.", Sheldon replied.

"What should we do now?"

"For starters, don't leave the house, under no circumstances. I need to know that you're save."

"And what are you going to do?"

Friday, August 13, 2010

"Sheldon, no. Let the police handle this."

"They won't do anything. And I can't tell them how I found the address without incriminating myself."

"But then I'm coming along."

"No way."

"Sheldon, I haven't left the house in three days as you asked me to, but these calls are freaking me out. I have to do something. And frankly, it's not your decision."

"Penny, please, be reasonable."

"Reasonable? You're the one who wants to go to an abandoned warehouse district all by yourself. You have no idea what or who awaits you there."

"That's what I have the taser for."

"Sheldon, you don't have to play hero for me. We will find another way."

"Fifteen calls, Penny. Fifteen!"

"We just stop taking them. Block any unidentified callers."

"That won't solve anything. It probably will only lead to something more drastic."

Penny swallowed hard at the thought what more drastic could mean. "I ..."

"You need to be save, Penny. That's my number one priority." Sheldon pointed the taser at his girlfriend. "Promise me that you will stay here, no matter what happens."

"Or what? You shoot me?"

"The taser won't do any permanent damage to you, but you will be unconscious for a while."

"Sheldon, you're out of your mind."

"Promise me, Penny."

Penny took a step closer towards Sheldon. "Sweetie ..." With a quick move she grabbed his wrist, twisted it and disarmed him. "I promise. But don't you dare ever point a gun at me again. Even if it's just a taser. I know this thing is getting to you and you only mean it well, so you're forgiven, but threatening to shoot the partner is not acceptable in a relationship, understood?"

Sheldon nodded guilt-stricken. "Understood. I'm sorry."

Penny gave the taser back to Sheldon. "Be careful."

30 minutes later

Penny was sitting on the kitchen table and stared at the phone in her hand. Sheldon had promised to call her the second he found something.

Penny had never been so tense in her life. The whole story was like from a bad horror movie. And now Sheldon was out there by himself. He was playing tough, but he wasn't exactly well-suited to face off against a mystery stalker.

Penny made her decision. She should have never let Sheldon do this. Promise or not, she was going after him. Penny put her phone in her pants pocket, grabbed her keys and left the house.

It was a queasy feeling, but Penny's worry for Sheldon spurred her on. She entered the address of the warehouse Sheldon had found with his hacking voodoo in the navigation system and drove off.

She ignored all speed limits and arrived way quicker than the GPS had predicted. It was a former industrial district, now it was abandoned and the state of the buildings was accordingly.

But luckily most buildings still had their street numbers, making it easy for Penny to find the right warehouse. The windows were so dirty that it was impossible to look inside.

Penny walked around the building until she found a broken window. Carefully she climbed inside. It was dim and Penny hit her knee on stack of slats. Thinking it might be a good idea to have at least some kind of weapon she picked one up and continued her way through the warehouse.

After a while of sneaking around aimlessly in the large building Penny spotted a glimpse of apparently electric light. When she came close to the source she could hear a female voice.

"You shouldn't have come alone."

"Let me go!" Penny gasped at hearing Sheldon's voice.

"I want both of you, the brain and the beauty."

"You will never get Penny, she is save."

"Of course she is, I don't want her any harm."

"What do you want then? Why are you doing this?"

"You should be honored.", the woman replied. "I was very impressed by you when we first met."

"That's no reason to tie me to a chair." Penny gasped again. As quiet as possible she opened the door to the room where the light and the voices were coming from slightly. Sheldon was indeed tied to a wooden chair with a thick rope, facing away from the door. Next to him was a table with a lamp on it. Squatting in front of Sheldon was the mystery woman, barely in Penny's view.

"And your dear Penelope, isn't she beautiful. It must be an incredible feeling to touch her, to kiss her."

"Get your hands of me!"

"You should learn to be nice to me, we will be spending a lot of time together from now on."

"You're crazy. Penny will miss me, she will call the cops."

"Oh, that would be very unfortunate. The police will only ruin our little get-together."

"If you let me go now and stay away from us, I won't file charges against you.", Sheldon bargained.

"That's very generous, but no. I think I should call Penny, maybe she wants to join us."

"Leave Penny alone!"

"I'm sure she would do anything for you, wouldn't she?"

Penny's thoughts were racing. If the stalker called her cell phone, she would be busted. She still had the slat and the woman was facing away from her right now. With a bit of luck she would be able to catch by surprise and end this madness.

Taking a deep breath Penny stormed into the room, raised the slat over her head and hit the woman as hard as she could. The stalker immediately crumbled to the floor.

"Penny! You promised to stay at home."

"Are you really going to complain about that right now?", Penny asked and started untying Sheldon. "Who is she?"

"Amy Farrah-Fowler."

"Who?"

"Bernadette brought her along when you had me meet some of your friends. October 2008."

"We will have to talk to Bernie about that."

Freed from the rope Sheldon stood up and kicked the chair away. He picked up his phone from the table and dialed 911.

* * *

Is it just me or can you see Amy actually going there (if Shenny would happen)?


	16. Forever

Sunday, August 29, 2010

"You did what?"

"Five weeks ago I ..."

"Yeah, I heard you the first time. How could you do that?"

"What did you expect me to do once I found a solution, Penny? This isn't theoretical physics, it was always supposed to be applied."

"Yeah, I know, I ... – to be completely honest I never really believed it's possible."

"I know. I could always see it in your eyes."

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. No one could expect you to believe that I single-handedly find a way to stop ageing and make eternal life possible."

"But you did."

"I did."

"And you tested it on yourself."

"Penny, only two people even know about my research. And I most certainly wasn't going to use you as a guinea pig."

"So you used yourself. That's crazy, Sheldon."

"Well, maybe pretty much everyone I ever met was right after all."

"No. You're not crazy. You're a genius. And you're going to get a Nobel prize. Hell, you will get all of them."

"Penny, I told you, no one can know about this."

"Yeah, you said that, but I don't understand. This will change the world."

"Exactly."

"And that's a bad thing?", Penny asked.

"It could be. Think about it, what would happen if the world would find out there was a rather simple treatment to extend life? I see two general scenarios. The details would be kept under wraps, restricting access to the rich and powerful. And I'm not sure the world can survive Donald Trump for centuries."

Penny laughed. "Well, if that's your biggest fear, I think ..."

"It's not. It's the way less dangerous of the two scenarios. The alternative is that millions, maybe billions of people extend their lives. Within only a couple of decades life expectancy would skyrocket and so would the world's population. And depending on who you ask earth is overpopulated already anyway."

"Okay, that seems a legit argument."

"With the rising population all of humanity's problems would get bigger. Wars, famines, shortages of natural resources and clean water. Environmental pollution, followed by the extinction of more and more species. And what about climate change? In last consequence earth could become unlivable for humans."

"Okay, okay, I get it. Eternal life equals apocalypse."

"It might seem like I'm exaggerating, maybe I am, but I'm afraid it will cause more harm than good."

"You're really smart."

"Not a surprise anymore, I hope?"

"No, of course not. But I can't help being impressed every time again."

"The point is, once the secret is out, once it leaves this house, we have absolutely no control over what happens from there on."

"And you're afraid of that."

"Almost as much as I'm afraid of losing you."

"You won't lose me, sweetie. Never."

"Not now anymore."

"Is that why you started all of this?"

"Yes. We weren't together back then, but I had realized that I was in love with you and ..."

Penny cupped Sheldon's face and kissed him.

"What was that for?"

"It takes a very special man to find a way to cheat death for the girl he loves."

"It's actually quite selfish. I just want to spend as much time with you as possible."

"And that I will forever keep my twenty-four-year-old body doesn't hurt either, does it?"

"So you're doing it?"

"If you say it's save."

"I spend all of ... – most of my time in the last five weeks to check and double-check everything."

"After you endangered yourself my undergoing an experimental procedure."

"Which allowed me to gather more data to endorse my theory. Penny, if I would think that something could happen to you, I would never ask."

"I know. I trust you."

"Do you want me to explain to you how it works?"

"I think we both know that's a waste of time. I don't have the necessary basic knowledge."

"I could teach you."

"Absolutely. But not right now."

Two hours later

"I don't feel different."

"You're not supposed to."

"No side-effects?"

"Well, I collapse a couple of times in the hours after the procedure."

"You're telling me that now?"

"It's nothing serious. Just stay seated as much as possible and don't walk around without me."

"Okay. So, are we like ... mutants now?"

"Without the superpowers."

"We can work on that."


End file.
